Crystal Requiem
by ChaosMarauder
Summary: Sakura finds out she is adopted. Her real mother comes into the picture, and hijinks ensue. Basically it's the regular story of naruto, with ffxiii characters. set post-LR and post-sasuke retrieval arc in shippuden. Yes it's what you think
1. Chapter 1

Crystal Requiem

Chapter 1

AN: Yet another story from me! This time crossing FFXIII with the world of Naruto! I know, there are hundreds of these already, but I have yet to see one like this! If you want more info, observe the AN at the bottom.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, while Final Fantasy XIII belongs to Square Enix.

Chapter 1

"You're adopted."

Those two words caused her to stop. Time seemed to become still for Sakura Haruno as she tried to make sense of what her mother had just told her. Here she sat, in the kitchen, with her mother and father, having returned home from a tiring overnight shift at the hospital, expecting to go straight to her room for some much needed rest. Instead she had been called by her parents to talk. At first she thought they were going to complain about her working too hard, like usual, but instead found her parents with sad looks on their faces and a letter on the table.

When her mother spoke those words to her after she sat down, which she was now glad for doing so, her lungs seemed to momentarily stop working before her mind finally caught up with her body enough for her to utter a reply.

"...what?"

Her father, Kizashi, handed a manilla envelope to her, which she slowly took. With slightly shaking hands, she unclasped the hook and took out the contents, her eyes immediately scanning the page.

Certificate Of Adoption

Name - Sakura

Surname - unknown

Sex - Female

Former Parent/Guardian - unknown

Adoptive Parent/Guardian - Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno

Information - N/A

Witness to Adoption - Hiruzen Sarutobi (Third Hokage)

There was a lot of other legal inormation, but she didn't bother reading any of it, her mind focused more on the fact that she seemed to have no background at all. She didn't even know her full name...

"I know it's a lot to take in," Kizashi said, "but believe me when I say we love you like you were our own. As for-"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Sakura asked, her voice cracking as she tried to hold back the tears. She promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore, it was a sign of weakness.

"We were told not to," Mebuki answered immediately, gazing at table with a guilty look on her face. "Your mother thought it for the best that-"

"Wait you knew her?" Sakura interupted again, her eyes snapping up at her Mebuki.

"Correction," Kizashi said for Mebuki. "We KNOW her. She's a friend of ours, and wanted us to take you in. The adoption was just so you could legally stay with us in the village."

Sakura couldn't believe it. Her mother, her REAL mother, had given her up. Left her with another couple so she could do what she wanted to. She felt so angry. How dare she...!

"But, why would she do that?" Sakura asked, not really speaking to anyone.

"I think," Mebuki said, sensing Sakura's anger rise, "that you should talk to her about it."

Sakura jerked her head up at that.

"She's coming?"

"Tomorrow," Kizashi said, raising the letter to read over it. "Around noon, maybe a little later depending on travel conditions." He put the letter down to give Sakura a level stare. "I know this is all kind of sudden, try to hear her out before you judge. And please don't tear up the house in our absence."

Sakura just looked down at the table, her mind racing. She was coming? She was actually coming to Konoha to meet her? Then the rest of Kizashi's words regustered.

"Wait, you're not going to be here?"

At this, Mebuki lifted her gaze to Sakura, an annoyes glare set upon her face. "Sakura we told you this the other night! My sister in Taki is ill, and needs me to take care of her. We'll likely be gone all week. You really need to listen more to what we say!"

Sakura facepalmed at that. She had completely forgotten about that. She had even requested that a medic nin accompany them since she herself would be busy. Apparently moreso now with this situation.

"Right, Mom, I forgot about that," she said sheepishly.

Mebuki just smiled at her adoptive daughter, glad to see things didn't completely change with this reveal. Standing up, Mebuki gave Sakura a hug, before moving to the stove to start dinner.

"Well in any case, go ahead and rest up for a while," she said waving towards the hall. "I know you must be exhausted from today. I'll have something for you to eat when you wake up."

Sakura got up at that, giving Kizashi a hug as well before heading towards her room. Stopping at the door, she turnes back to them.

"I love you guys," she said, making them look at her with wide eyes. "Nothing will ever change that. Thank you for raising me right." With that, she turned and went up to her bedroom, not noticing a tear falling from her mother's eye.

The sounds of the forest surrounded her as she walked along the trail, her bag hanging over one shoulder. She could see the village from here, still a way's away from her location. Fortunately, she would most likely make it there by noon tomorrow, just as she said she would.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a picture. She had done this hundreds of times since she started out on this journey. A younger version of herself looked back at her, a sad look on her face, and a baby girl in her arms. It had been taken the day before she had to give her up, what could possibly have-

Snap

She spun around, her military instincts kicking in. Although she hadn't fought in years, it had been drilled into her brain. Immediately, she saw three men wearing masks step out of the trees, blades in their hands amd smirks on their faces.

Bandits.

"Well, well," one of them said. Obviously the one in charge. "Walking alone in the forest, are we? You know, that ain't exactly safe..."

Narrowing her eyes, she said nothing, only lowered the bag off of her shoulder and pulling out her gunblade as they charged.

AN: Well, there's the first chapter! Like I said, I haven't seen this kind of scenario before, in fact I've only seen Sakura have a role in three stories, two of which were discontinued, so I thought I would do it myself.

A bit of a spoiler only because it's so painfully obvious: yes, in this story, Sakura's real mother will be Lightning. *throws up Odin's giant shield to repel imminent flames* Deal with it. As for the father, you'll just have to wait and find out! ;)

As always, read and review! I will also update my other stories when I am able to. L8R!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing used in this story. Period. End of Discussion. So go away sniveling lawyers... :P

The next day saw Sakura awake at the table, a cup of coffee in her hands. She had been given the next few days off after Lady Tsunade insisted she was working too hard. She tried to plead her case, stating that she was fine and they were short a few people, but the Hokage would have none of it. In the end, it took being threatened pwith house arrest for Sakura to reluctantly agree to it.

Apparently, Tsunade was right, because she ended up sleeping through dinner and the whole morning, waking up at 11:30 to her surprise. She made a mental note to get more rest from now on. When she came downstairs, she saw the house was empty, but breakfast had been set aside for her along with a note telling her they had left late last night, as well as reminding her of the...visitor today.

She had immediately made herself some coffe after reading that part.

So here she sat, almost half an hour, and two cups later, a nervous wreck. She had no idea what to do. Heck she didn't even know what she would say. She had ran so many different scenarios through her mind...what would she look like? Would her mother cry when she saw her? Would she even care? She looked at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time since she sat down, seeing it read 11:59.

Any second now.

Lightning walked along the streets of Konoha at a slow pace, trying to slow her breathing while her mind raced. She had arrived at the village a few minutes ago, getting directions Haruno residence from the guards at the gate. Turns out she missed Mebuki and Kizashi, as they had went to visit Mebuki's sick sister. That was alright though, as she would always see them when they returned. But they wefeny the cause for her panic.

She had no idea what to do once she arrived. So many questions flew through her mind at once: What will Sakura look like? Will she even let her through the door? Would she hate her? What should she say?

The address the guards gave her came into view, and her heart thundered in her chest. Coming to a stop in front of the steps, she gazed at the door, trying to compose herself. This was it. No turning back. Whatever happened, she would face it head on, just like anything else thrown her way. Without anymore hesitation, she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and walked up the steps.

'Here goes nothing...' she thought as she knocked on the door.

Sakura jumped, a .from the front door. She looked up at the clock one more time - 12:00 on the dot - before slowly rising to her feet. Trying to calm her nerves, she made her way to the hallway. She came to the front door, her heart pounding as, after taking a deep breath, she opend the door.

The person on the other side jerked hef head up as the door opened and, for the first time, she looked her mother in the eyes. A deep blue, she noted, almost icy, but with a slight softness to them. But what really drew her attention was the hair they were partially hidden behind.

Pink...

She had PINK hair...

Sakura brought her gaze down, taking in the rest of her appearance. She was dressed in a black sleeveless top, a necklace hanging from her neck against her exposed chest. A bag hung from her right shoulder, looking like ot weighed a lot, but she obviously had no trouble carrying it. The shirt was open slightly at the bottom, exposing her stomach and midrif, a navel piercing showing through. She wore jeans with ripped legs, and black conbat style boots. Bringing her gaze back up to her eyes, she saw that she was getting the same treatment. Immediately, the other woman looked away, a guilty look on her face. Sakura narrowed her eyes a bit at that, before stepping aside to clear the doorway.

"...You...want to come in?" she asked, not sure what else to say. Lightning only nodded, before taking a step inside as Sakura closed the door behind her. Looking around, she spotted a picture on the wall. Waljung over to it, she immediately recognized Mebuki and Kizashi, with Sakura standing between them, wearing a green flak jacket.

Sakura stopped at the door, seeing Lightning still at the door. Walking back she saw her looking at the picture on the wall, of the day she became a chunin. She looked back at Lightning, noting her pained expression. Deciding it was too quiet, she cleared her throat to get the woman's attention.

"I-um..." she started, rubbing the back of her neck. "I made some coffee, if you want..."

Lightning bit her bottom lip and nodded, before deciding that speaking would be a better answer. "That sounds good."

"Ok, but if you don't mind, can you remove the boots? It's a custom around here..." she said, glaring at said footwear.

Sheepishly, Lightning did as she was told, removing her boots and placing them next to another pair, which she assumed were Sakura's, near the door before following her down the hall towards the kitchen.

As they came into the living room Sakura looked back at Lightning, gesturing to her bag. "You can set that anywhere, just make sure it all stays in one place." With that, she headed into the kitchen. Lightning lowered the bag off her shoulders and sat down, her elbows resting on her knees. Looking around, she took in every detail of the house. All in all, it looked pretty comfortable. After a few minutes, Sakura returned with two cups of coffee, handing one to her before sitting down across from her.

An awkward silence followed for a long time after, neither woman saying anything or even making eye contact. When one would look up, the other would look elsewhere. After a while, it got on Lightning's nerves to the point that she opened her mout to speak, but Sakura beat her to it.

"So..." she started, unsure of what to say at first. "What do you call yourself?"

Oh nice going, her Inner Self chided, 'What do you call yourself?' Could you BE anymore lame?

Shut UP! This is already awkward as Hell, I don't need you butting in! she snapped back.

Lightning only quirked an eyebrow at her question, taking another sip of coffee before answering.

"Lightning," she muttered. "Although my real name is Claire. It's more of a nickname, really. But I'm told it suits me, and I tend to agree."

Sakura raised her own eyebrow at that statement. Catching the questioning look, Lightning let out a slight sigh.

"Lightning, it shines brightly for a moment, then fades away," she said, a far off look on her face. "It can't protect, it only destroys."

"I still don't get it," Sakura replied, a thoughtful look on her face.

"You'd have to know more about me personally to understand," was her reply. Lightining placed the now empty coffe cup on the table, before fixing the younger woman with a determined look. "So...ask away."

Sakura looked up at that, before knitting her eyebrows and, with a deep breath, asked, "Why now? After all this time, why wait til now to show up? Why weren't you there? Why did you give me up?!"

Sakura suddenely realized that she had stood up and was raising her voice, to the point that she had been close to yelling. Sheepishly, she sat back down and reached for her own empty cup, more to keel her hands diatracted than anything else. Dispite the whole outburst, Lightning's expression never changed. She only sighed as she looked down at the table. Once she was sure that Sakura had calmed enough, she spoke.

"Because if I didn't, you would have been taken from me anyway."

Sakura's head shot up at that, wide eyes staring at Lightning. "Wh-what are you talking about? Why would I have been taken?"

Lightning rubbed her eyes with one hand. She had expected this reaction, even knew what to say, but getting it out was harder than she thought. Sighing the third time that day, she began.

"Back then, I had nothing. I had little money, so often times I couldn't pay my bills. I had no food, so I went hungry a lot. I was my family had they're own problems, so I couldn't ask them for help. Hell, everyday I was going to the clinic to give blood they would pay me a measly five dollars - if I was lucky to get that much - just so I could pay my rent. I may as well have been homeless anyway...

"Then I got pregnant with you," she said, looking up at Sakura, with a in her eyes. "At first, I was gonna go with abortion, but when I got to the clinic, I couldn't bring myself to do it." She lowered her head, eyes closed. "I decided that, somehow, I would find a way to make it work. I started looking for work, but no one wanted to hire a pregnant, broke woman. I kept looking though, and as luck would have it, I ran into Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno."

She paused to look at a photo of the couple, a slight smile adorning her face for the first time that Sakura had seen. "They were running a tea of thing when I met them. I aaked them for a job, telling them I was expecting and broke. I be kicked out immediately, but they took one look at me, sat me down, and told me to eat something. Ay first I was going to decline, but they insisted. So I gave in, and afterward, they said that I statted tomorrow.

"Everything was going well. I was making a decent amount of money, my bills were getting payed, things were looking up." The smile on her face dropped after that. "Then my apartment complex burned down. There was crappy insurance on the property so the owners had to sell the land. On top of that, the store ended up going out of business, and Mebuki and Kizashi were going to have to head back here. I ended up losing everything all over again. I had to start from scratch, and with only a few weeks left of my pregnancy, I didn't know what to do." She raised her head to look Sakura square in the eye. "So I asked them to take you. At first they were reluctant, but after I begged them, they decided that they would take you with them. That way, I could get back on my feet and maybe find a way to reach you. And I could see you again..."

Lightning took a deep breath, before rubing her face again. Looking back up to her daughter, she saw Sakura's conflicted expression, like she didn't know to say. Truthfully, Lightning didn't blame her. She wouldnt be surprised if she hated her, blamed her for not trying harder. God knows she blamed herself...

Sighing yet again - she seemed to a lot lately - Lightning stood up. "I know it's a lot to take in," she said as she headed for the door, "so I'm gonna get some air, give you time to think. I'll be back later..." she paused at the door. "And if you want, when I get back...we can talk some more."

With that, Lightning left the room, leaving a torn Sakura behind, still staring at her empty cup.

AN: HOLY CHEESE AND CRACKERS THIS WAS A LONG CHAPTER! Sorry for the wait, I had to think of how I wanted this to go. But here you go!

As a little background, Lightning is from a different continent than the Elemental Nations. Everyone knows of they're existance but, since this is post LR, the Naruto world will be the "New World" mentioned in LR.

For those who may be wondering about my other story Riding the Storm, sorry but I'm having to redo the third chapter because I'm not happy with it. As for FTW, it'll start soon, so bear with me.

Also I have posted a poll for this story to see who Lightning should be paired with (NOT AS THE FATHER), so give that a look when u can.

See yall next time! L8R!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

AN: Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Also, the results of the poll are in...and the winner was - surprisingly - Kakashi! So Lightning will be paired with him. So anyway enough of that. On with the story! And be sure to hit that little blue review button at the bottom!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto while FFXIII belings to Square Enix, which leaves me with...$7.62. Crap...

Sakura sat on the couch, not moving an inch after Lightning left, with her story still playing over and over in her mind. Mebuki and Kizashi - Mom and Dad, she corrected - had always been kind at heart, sometimes too much so, but this was...she couldn't even describe it.

Then there was Lightning herself. Her 'mother' had given her up, but held onto the hope that she would see her again, albeit years later. Not to mention she was from the , and really expensive to come across the ocean here. It undoubtedly took this long just to collect the money...

The more she thought about it, the more she came to understand her reasoning behind her actions. She made up her mind then, that no matter the situation may be between them, she wouldn't judge her gor this. After all, she had been raised better.

Deciding to go after Lightning, she got up and ran down the hall to the front door, quickly putting her boots on, and ran out-

BAM!

"OW!"

...right into Naruto's raised fist.

"Dammit, Naruto! What the hell?!" She shouted, rubbing her forehead.

"Ah! S-Sorry Sakura! I was just about to knock but-"

"Whatever," she cut him off, giving him a glare. "What do you want? I'm a little busy."

Naruto's face then lit up, a grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Kakashi-sensei I were supposed to meet up in about half an hour to start my training-"

"Then why are you here and not the training ground?" Sakura asked.

Naruto just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Right..."

"Yeah, so anyway, I thought maybe we could take a walk around the village? Just hang out?"

At first, Sakura was going to refuse. She was going after Lightning after all. But then again, she really didn't know where to look, and she hadn't hung out with Naruto in a while. Plus maybe he could even give her some advice on what to do. He'd grown up an orphan after all.

"You know what? That sounds good actually."

Naruto's face lit up at that, his signature fox grin on his face. "Alright! Lets go!"

Lightning walked down the street, her eyes taking in the sights of the village. She had been lucky to arrive during the spring, she didn't want to think about staying out in the woods while it snowed. Although she had gotten used to that during her short time on Gran Pulse. In fact, this village looked a lot like Palumpolum, albeit far less dependant on technology.

It was hard to believe that this was the new world promised by Bhunivelse, although he'd tried to destroy it when Lightning and all of humanity turned against him. The first thing she had done upon arriving was to seek everyone out, get them together to celebrate their victory. Then of course that went downhill when-

Lghtning shook her head, trying to clear her mind of those events. They only led to depressing thoughts. Looking around at where she was, Lightning spotted a bar and grill down the street - at least it looked like one from the sign, odd she couldn't read their signs but could understand their speech.

As if sensing her thoughts, her stomach let out a growl, she really hadn't eaten anything since arriving in the village. Deciding to fix that, she made her way down to the doors and entered the bar.

While she expected a few people to be here, she wasn't expecting the place to nearly be packed. There were only a few seats left, which seeing as it wasn't even 3:00 yet. Making her way through the crowd, she sat down at the bar and got the bartender's attention, calling him over.

"Got any Jack Daniel's?" she asked. The bartender gave her a smile and nod as he went to fetch her drink.

"You new around here?"

She turned to her left towarsa the voice, expecting some "big tough guy" wannabe or some old drunk, and promptly did a double take. The man who had asked had white hair that seemed to somehow defy gravity. He wore a mask over the bottom half of his face and a headband over his left eye. He also wore a green flak jacket, similar to the one Sakura had worn in that picture.

"Yeah," she answered after a moment, unsure of what to make of this man. The bartender returned, setting her whisky down in front of her. "Seeing as you're a new customer, first drink is on the house!" he said with a smile before walking off to another customer.

"Well then," the man to her left said, "welcome to Konoha, I guess." He extended his hand to her. "Suppose I should introduce myslef. Kakashi Hatake."

She looked at the hand before reaching to shake it. "Lightning."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. "Interesting name..."

"So I've been told," she replied, taking a sip of her drink, feeling it burn down her throat. "Although, you're one to talk 'Scarecrow'."

Kakashi just eye-smiled, letting out a chuckle, before looking at the clock.

2:57

'Naruto can wait a little longer I guess' he thought.

"So what brings you to Konoha?" he asked.

"It's personal," she replied quickly.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow again, but decided to let it go.

"Although," she said after a minute of silence, "I might tell you if you tell me why you where a mask."

Kakashi looked at her and chuckled, hos eyes holding a playful gaze. "Because it makes my students wonder what's underneath. And its always fun watching them try to figure it out."

Lightning raised her eyebrow at that. "You teach?"

Kakashi shrugged. "More or less. I'm a jounin instructor, I have two other members of my team that used to be my students."

This seemed to catch Lightning's interest. "What are they like?"

"Well," Kakashi began, adopting a thinking pose. "There's Naruto Uzumaki, he's a loudmouth who actually has good intentions, but he can be a bit clumsy and...odd at times."

Lightning snorted, immediately thinking of Snow...

"Then there's Sakura Haruno."

That made Lightning's head shoot up, which didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi. "I take it you know her?"

Lightning slowly nodded, her eyes now downcast with a sorrowful gaze. "Yeah...she's why I'm here..." Taking a deep breath, Lightning admitted, "I'm her mother."

Kakashi's eye widened in disbelief, but before he could ask, Lightning downed the rest of her drink to the bartender, "Can I get another? I think I'm gonna be here a while."

AN: Well, here it is! I hope it is to your liking, and sorry again for the wait.

Read & Review! *throws up a reflect shield* NO FLAMES PLEASE! L8R!


End file.
